Grace Woodhouse used to be one of the most promising high school football kickers in the country. She struggled long and hard with the decision to give it all up, but her gender dysphoria became unbearable, and football and transitioning can't go together. Or can they? Coming back to school the following fall with a new look, new name, and new pronouns, Grace is surprised by her former football team when they ask her to come back to the team post-transition. Told in a mix of flashbacks and present day, this poignant novel tackles the issue of transgender athletes head on as Grace becomes the first openly transgender kicker on an all male football team.

This story is an incredibly hard read. I loved Grace's voice and the tough decisions she had to make. The amount of transphobia and deadnaming was jarring, but this story could not be more timely. I loved this novel for not shying away from difficult conversations, and Grace is a flawed and real character who spends most of the time questioning every choice she makes as only a 17 year old can. The friendships Grace has with both her queer friends and her football team are beautiful to witness, even as they ebb and flow as Grace struggles between her trans identity and her love of sport. I also enjoyed the bittersweet romance with her ex-girlfriend, although it was only a minor side plot. This is a beautiful young adult tale that does not shy away from complexity.

Big thank you to Levine Querido for the gifted review copy. Thoughts are my own.

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller is an inspiring and heartfelt story of identity, courage, and belonging. Grace’s journey back to the football field is filled with emotion, humor, and resilience, making it a compelling and uplifting read. I enjoyed this powerful novel and rated it five stars.

Dairy Queen meets Like Other Girls.

I adored this.

Grace Woodhouse (almost typed Woodmouse) is a retired trans high school football player. It's been...a rough year. She's given up football to be herself, and then her team comes knocking. They need a kicker, and she's the best in the state. And Grace realizes maybe her football career isn't over.

Ugh this book. What a coming of age delight.

There is a LOT of trigger warnings, from deadnaming to transphobic slurs to some nonconsensual groping to an assault.

BUT it is SO GOOD (the rest of the book, not the trigger warnings). Grace is a girl who is figuring out a whole lot of shit and growing up, and so are her friends. It's a diverse cast. It's got a lot of emotional moments. There are ups, and there are downs, but Grace always has a robust support system. And of course, there's a lot of football involved.

I received an ARC from the publisher

I really loved this book. Victoria Zeller absolutely nailed the team dynamics and football vibe—it all felt so real, from the way the characters talked to each other, the joking, and camaraderie both on and off the field. Its clear the author knows her sports and I loved it. In addition, I especially appreciated the relationship with Grace's dad. Granted, he wasn’t the most emotionally open guy, but you could feel how much he supported her and loved her unconditionally.

If I had one wish, it’s that we could have seen more of Grace's inner world around transitioning—what she was feeling, how she knew this was her truth, and what that journey meant to her. But even without the additional details, the story still felt powerful. Loved this debut and I can’t wait to see what Victoria Zeller writes next.

I would like to thank Victoria Zeller, Levine Querido, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Grace was a kicker for her high school's football team, who missed a shot in one of the biggest games of the year. The next spring, she comes out as trans and spends the summer avoiding the football team and making a new friend group. The book picks up at the beginning of the next school year. Grace is asked to kick for the team again and has to balance time with her new friends, time with her football team, feelings for an old girlfriend, all while fielding calls from a college recruiter, and trying to avoid media scrutiny as the only trans football player at the high school level. As someone with only a surface level knowledge of football, I found the descriptions of the sport to be easy enough to understand without having to do much research but in—depth enough to tell the author knows her stuff. As a trans man in my 20s, the depiction of being trans in the current climate is also accurate. Some people are accepting, most people don’t seem to care, and a few people disagree (but even fewer will say something to your face). I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in understanding what it is like to be a trans teen.

Legit ball? Check. Authentic voice? Check. True-to-life emotional turbulence of the teenage years? Check. Timely? CheckCheckCheck.

Zeller has written a really good YA novel in a genre with almost no traction these days—the sports novel. Oh, and it features a transgender girl as protagonist.

At the start of the book, Grace is an ex-football player, having quit after missing a crucial field goal last season that eliminated her team from the playoffs. She is also debuting as her real self for the first time as a senior in high school. Our Grace is understandably self-conscious and occasionally self-hating . . . but also a typically sarcastic teenager. The voice is spot on.

She has a small group of new friends, but also feels aimless without the structure of football and its life-consuming presence. But she finds she still has her old friends too, when they beg her to rejoin the team. (She had been an excellent, even D1 prospect-level, kicker despite last season's final debacle.) And this is where the book really shines. Grace's friends are the backbone of the story. They show up for her throughout the book, to an extent that is, frankly, a bit farfetched. But this is fiction! And it provides a comforting cushion to counter some of the tension in the rest of the story.

That said, this isn't an "after school special" vibe by any stretch—it's cool, irreverent, and "of its time." That last bit is my only real issue with the book. It is trendy. It references celebrities, pop culture, social media. So I'm not sure how lasting it will be. It will be easily dated to the mid-2020s, which in teen-trend-time could seem antiquated in just a few years. It is, already, dealing with the misfortune of using a Justin Tucker (fuck 'em) quote to kick-off the entire book. Kill your heroes, kids!

Anyway, this is Zeller's first book, and I'm looking forward to more good goods from her in the future. Cheers to NetGalley and Levine Querido for the ARC.

3.5 stars.

This was such an endearing read. It was so easy to immediately care about Grace and her journey. While I don't have any knowledge about football, I was still invested in seeing Grace navigate being on the team, post transitioning. I really appreciated seeing how much football and being in that environment shaped Grace, for better and for worse.

I really loved Grace's friends on the team, as well as her queer friends that she made after coming out. Her relationship with her ex-girlfriend, Zoe, felt very layered and complex, but ultimately quite sweet.

I really enjoyed my time with this book and think it is a solid debut. I'm looking forward to seeing what Victoria Zeller does in her sophomore novel.

Thank you to Netgalley, Levine Querido, and RBmedia for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not a big football fan (even though my dad and brother are), but this was so good. I loved it and never felt lost with what goes on in football.

The trans representation is amazing, and I need people to read this book!

I’m coming back to this review to add more because I legit can’t stop thinking about this book. It was phenomenal. It made me cry (the first book to make me cry in 2025). Truly one of the BEST YA contemporaries I’ve read.

As a trans man, I felt incredibly seen as an athlete who quit their sport once they came out. I LOVED ice hockey; whenever I stepped onto the ice, all my worries went away. My brain went quiet and focused on the plays. And to read from a trans girl who gave up football made me sob. I felt what she felt. I never did gain the courage to play one more year after I came out, simply because I wasn’t confident enough to go back to the girls team (I only played girls for the 6 years I played hockey).

This was an amazing book and I truly believe it will be in contention for my favourite book of 2025.

Genuinely a sweet and honest look at a trans girl transition in her senior year of high school and the changes that brings to her and her college football dreams. An incredibly important read given the current climate of trans youth and school sports.

This was a sweet surprise with some standout moments and strong writing. While it didn’t fully blow me away, I really enjoyed the journey and the characters. I’d absolutely recommend it to readers who love.

I loved it. I loved the representation of Buffalo sports culture, the local references, how much Grace loved football, and how not everything ended up perfect because life is messy, but it was enough.

A really nice story about a girl in unusual circumstances fighting for her right to play sports.
I really liked reading the story, the characters had a decent portion of depth to them. It was nice to read how Grace and most of her teammates had a healthy relationship towards each other, a digital Grace being torn apart between her newfound queer group and her longing to be part of her football team again.
A great read for a non romantic queer story!

Such an incredible and important story. I think everyone should read this book!

This is such a beautiful story about self acceptance, resilience, friendship, and hope. The book is partially told in second point of view, which was done so well. The author did such an incredible job at showing the disconnect Grace was feeling during that time of her life.

I'm not super knowledgable on American football, but I love other sports and that love was enough to help me understand that side of Grace. So don't let not understanding the sport stop you from picking it up

one of the boys follows grace woodhouse, who has come out as trans in her senior year of high-school, and navigates her transition as a trans woman, facing challenges in social circles and football, ultimately deciding how much of herself to sacrifice for the sport she loves.

first things first, i really enjoyed zeller's writing style. it's so simple yet so sufficient. some other reviewer mentioned how it's neither too much not too little and i absolutely agree.it just made the book very enjoyable and quick to get through.

the thing is i really don't know much about sports, let alone american sports so i can't really comment on the sports part because everything felt so new to me. so much so that half my recent sports history is just football terms. however, i really liked grace's relation with her teammates. it was absolutely heartwarming to read about the bond(s) she shared with them and learning about the sports system there.

grace's journey through the book was so well written. it really gave a glimpse into one of the many the trans experiences. it really highlighted how differently different people react ranging from full-fledged support and love to straight up transphobia.

all in all, it was a very sweet book. i would totally recommend it. thank you so much to the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Football? No thank you. Football through the lens of Grace Woodhouse? Absolutely! I could not put down ONE OF THE BOYS by Victoria Zeller. The story of Grace, who has come out as trans before her senior year of high school, is extremely compelling. Part of what makes Grace so compelling is that she makes mistakes and can be messy. She is not a "perfect" character created to teach readers about being trans. Grace is a trans girl who's grappling with her deep love of football, her talent as a kicker, and whether it makes sense--according to her--for her to keep playing, both in high school and beyond. Author Victoria Zeller immerses her readers in the complexities of Grace's experiences on and off the field, including as she considers playing football in college. One of the strongest aspects of this novel is how Grace's friends and one-time former teammates urge her to rejoin the team and then put in extra effort to help her train. This small group of football players, including queer boys and a teen father, break so many stereotypes and molds. Without being pedantic, the author shows readers the possibilities of acceptance and community. I'd love to make this required reading for all of my novel writing students.

Grace Woodhouse used to be one of the top-ranked high school kickers in the country--but that was a different life, before she began her physical transition. But when her old football team has a real shot at winning state, her teammates beg her to come back. Grace loves football, but does football love her?

I loved everything about this book. The characters were hilarious. Grace and her friend group were well developed and supportive. You can tell that this book was written with a deep love of football, but the technical aspects of the game never got in the way of the plot. The prose was smooth and well crafted. There was definitely transphobia in this book, from microaggressions to the macro, but there was also a ton of support, love, and joy. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator was excellent. Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

Before a couple concussions and spraining every joint in my body, I played roller derby. Trans athletes were my friends and teammates. It was such a gift to share the track with so many incredible people. It was a joy to build something with them and bring our authentic selves, win or lose.

Everyone should get to experience the support and love of a team. Everyone should get the chance to be their authentic selves. Trans people are a gift. Trans stories are a gift. Trans youth (and adults) need our support. Let's show them.

One of the Boys
Victoria Zeller

Not long after coming out as trans, and having to say goodbye to football, Grace is asked to rejoin the team as they are in desperate need of a kicker - Grace's former position. Grace is now faced with the very real reality of hypermasculinity in the sport - on top of issues with her teammates, navigating a life being who she always was, dealing with a break up and oh. right. being scouted for a college team. No big deal, right?

As a cis woman who knows NOTHING about high school football - or football in general - i wasnt sure if i was the right audience for this book but actually, i LOVED it. In the current climate, and following the current discourse about trans althetes, i think this book is more than important. I love that the book captured the okayness, the acceptance of most people in Grace's life. Its easy to forget that in the every day life, most people with be accepting. They will respect the new names and pronouns. I feel like it was a giant hug for people only seeing the ugly thats going on. I love that it wasnt the main conflict (although it does affect some of it). Most of all, i love how everything centered on Grace's relationships - to her teammates, to her new found friends, and, obviously, to the game.

While i really loved this book, i felt the ending was a little rushed - the whole thing with the podcast and the resulting protest was beautiful but i wish it had been less rushed. But maybe that was just me wanting to see Grace realized how much people liked her, supported her, and all that. But nonetheless, the ending itself, the dance, the decision about college, all of it, was brilliant.

This book really put me through all the emotions. What a book, really.
Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Levine Querido for the eARC.

I was very excited for this book but sadly I was not able to finish this one. I had to DNF at 30%. I just did not hold my attention.

this was an amazing book from start to finish, even for someone who's outgrown most y/a. my biggest grievance with lgbtq+ rep is often that it feels forced and/or inauthentic, which wasn't at all the case here; in fact, it was a heartfelt and loving exploration of someone's journey to self-acceptance. grace's fears and doubts felt real and so genuine i was rooting for her from page 1. the sports aspect was also very well-done (kept me engaged with a sport i know nothing about), and i loved the exploration of the relationships through the lens of who grace used to be to these people, versus who she is now coming back. overall a very good story, and i will definitely read more by this author in the future!

thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review.

I adored every minute of this book, it was a nice change for me since typically when I read anything sports related it has some kind of romance in it. But I really enjoyed seeing Grace’s journey through discovering herself. I loved all of the characters and look forward to reading more from this author